I guess I knew there was a referendum coming up here in Nashville, but I didn’t know it was this soon. Thanks to some folks who oppose Metro Charter Amendment 1, I know now that we’re in the early voting period and the special election is on January 22. With me, their little flyer backfired. The flyer opposes Charter Amendment 1, and I happen to be for it. Charter Amendment 1 makes English the official language for Metro Government.

Here’s what’s on the ballot:

A new section numbered 1.08 will be added to Article 1 of the Metropolitan Charter.

The new section shall state the following:

“English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. The Metro Council may make specific exceptions to protect public health and safety. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law.”

They present three reasons to vote against the amendment:

1. It’s needless, because English is already our official language.
2. It will hurt our economy by driving away new jobs and tourism.
3. It will damage our reputation as a friendly city that people want to visit.

All three of these objections to the amendment can be overcome with a little common sense.

1. Yes, Metro council enacted a resolution in January of 2007 making English the official language. But there’s nothing to stop the current council from rescinding that whenever they want. If it’s in the charter, then it’s harder for council to ignore it.
2. The anti-Amendment 1 folks’ web site says that this amendment would make it illegal to speak Japanese to Japanese companies who are considering coming to Nashville. Anyone who’s read the language of the amendment can see that this simply isn’t the case. The contract would certainly have to be in English (surely they don’t expect us to sign a contract in Japanese). They also say this sends a negative and inaccurate message to the world about Nashville. I’d like to see them go to France and expect to see official French government business to be conducted in English.
3. They just say it’ll be bad for tourism and will alienate folks who’ll want to take their money elsewhere. They don’t really give any logical reasoning behind this assumption (and that’s all it is, an assumption). They don’t provide any proof that having Metro Council meetings in English will turn away visitors.

In a nutshell, this anti-English group doesn’t have a logical leg to stand on.

There’s also a second charter amendment up for vote on January 22. Interestingly enough, this same group is against it as well. Upon finding out that little fact, I had to do some more digging. As it turns out, this second charter amendment gives the citizens greater opportunity to propose amendments. So, they’re also against the Nashville citizens having a greater voice in Nashville politics. How Democratic.

I still find it amazing that the United States is seemingly the only country in the world where we’re expected to speak the language of international visitors and emigrants. Whatever happened to “When in Rome…”?